Nick Tetz Starts 2026 Strong with Back-to-Back Event Wins

AIRDRIE, Alta. – Nick Tetz is off to a fiery start to the 2026 PBR Canada season.

He first claimed the title in Oyen, Alberta, at the Touring Pro Division’s Happy Buckin' New Years Professional Bullarama event. This past weekend, he secured his ninth career win on the premier Cup Series in Red Deer, Alberta.

Boasting a 100% riding percentage through three events in 2026, Tetz is making an early statement as he looks to become only the second PBR Canada competitor to win three Championships, joining powerhouse Aaron Roy.

After suffering a broken femur early in 2025, an injury that sidelined the Calgary rider for much of the season, Tetz was pleased with how Red Deer concluded, especially given his history in the building across two associations that stage events in the central Alberta city.

"It feels really good to actually do good in that building. I've rode there three times for the CFR and I think three times in the PBR, and I think total, I've rode six bulls maybe,” Tetz reflected. “It definitely feels good to kind of get that monkey off my back. And then to kick off the year good, kind of on a hot streak right now."

"Now we're just going to be down in Arizona for a month before Lethbridge and then come back up for that one and hopefully do it again."

The return of the PBR Canada Cup Series for its 11th season is always exciting, and for Tetz, getting back under the bright lights and top-notch production of the tour plays a role in his, and many others, performance.

"The production was great. You know, Jason and everyone on that PBR Canada team, they do such a good job of giving us really good events to go to and it doesn't take a whole lot to fire you up. You almost have to try to settle yourself down at those events."

For the championship round at the PBR Red Deer Classic, Tetz selected More or Less. No stranger to success in Canada, the bull carried Dakota Buttar to two PBR Canada Cup Series wins in 2025, and helped eventual 2025 PBR Canada Champion Jared Parsonage earn a Touring Pro Division victory in North Battleford, Saskatchewan.

Tetz said a proven bull like More or Less is valuable in a final round — and carries extra meaning because the animal is owned by his close friend, 2025 PBR Canada Contractor of the Year Jim Thompson.

"Well, for starters, it's one of Jim's bulls," Tetz laughed.

"So I think almost any time I get the chance, I always pick one of Jim's bulls, just because I get on as often as I do at Jim's house. I don't know many of his bulls. I'm never really one to remember a lot of bulls. But when I do get on one that is good, I definitely remember that. That's my second time on [More or Less]. It's my first time on him at a PBR. I've been on him just at the house. He's just a really good bull.”

"Jim showed me the video of him dummying him before the event and he really blew out of there,” Tetz continued. “And I was like, 'If I can get past the first jump in decent shape, I think advantage goes to me.'"

One new move the bull has shown early this season is a big leap as the chute gate opens — a move that can catch a rider off guard. Tetz described what it's like when a bull gets a lot of air and kicks hard during a trip.

"If you're in the right spot, it feels like they're really bucking, but it feels like they have no power almost when you're in the right spot," he explained. "As long as you're in the right spot on them, a lot of the bulls don't have much power, especially when they really get to bucking. It almost makes it easier."

"There'll be some times where you get out of time on them and all of a sudden you're face down in the dirt or you're staring up at the ceiling rafters hoping your hand is going to come out."

As each season begins, a new group of optimistic rookies arrives at Canada's premier level of bull riding, and 2026 is no different.

Numerous rookies launched their Cup Series season in Red Deer, including two close to Tetz – Jhett Wheeler and Nash Loewen – both of whom posted scores in the long round.

For Tetz, sharing a locker room with the young guns makes him feel old, even at 26, but he enjoys seeing riders he's supported find success at this level.

"I invite a lot of those kids out to Jim's house to come get on practice bulls, so I've gotten to be around them quite a bit. It kind of makes me feel pretty old even though I'm only 26, but I hauled some of those kids around when they were steer riders going to pro rodeos and stuff, so definitely starting to make me feel a little old," Tetz said.

"I hauled those two out when they were steer riders out to Williams Lake and then I actually ended up selling my van to Jhett, so hopefully he can win a couple of titles in that van too. Watching Jhett, we got to see what he was all about at BRC finals last year. He's really kind of come into his own. I've grown pretty close to Jhett just because me and him kind of come from the same background, we rode steers, we made CFR, but we were still playing hockey there for a little bit, and playing it at a pretty high level."

In 2026, the PBR shifted its scoring system to include tenths of a point instead of half and quarter points. Backed by statistics showing many bulls fall into only a few scoring brackets, the adjustment gives judges more precision when marking both bulls and riders.

Tetz welcomes the change — though he admits it's already thrown off his score-recall.

"I don't think we really like it too much because it makes it a lot harder to remember what we were because honestly, I couldn't really tell you what I was on either of my bulls in Red Deer. I know I was 85 on one and 87 on another, but I don't know the .1s or anything like that," he said with a chuckle.

"But I definitely think when you have a bull riding like Medicine Hat in the past, where we rode a ton of bulls in the long round, it definitely helps kind of be able to differentiate some of those scores. It just helps kind of solidify that long round. With a tenth of a point here or there, it's a judged event — certain guys maybe felt like they should have been in and their ride was a little better — that's just part of the sport. But I definitely think that it helped with Red Deer. We rode a good amount of bulls and I think they got it right."

The two-time PBR Canada Champion said his 2026 plans are flexible, with an obvious focus on PBR Canada. While he's forgoing exemptions that would allow him to compete on the PBR Unleash The Beast down south, he plans to enter some PRCA pro rodeos in 2026 and see if he can make a run at the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo this year or next.

"I just kind of decided to kind of take the leap and try to start going to some pro rodeos here, maybe try to make the NFR either this year or next year. Ideally, just try to get the qualifications up and make it to where I don't have to go to 100-plus rodeos just to get there.

"As far as PBR Canada, getting off to a really hot start and making it count at the beginning definitely helps and kind of takes a little bit of pressure off having to go to every single one. I do know that those smaller Touring Pro Division ones make a difference, especially if you go to enough of them. So, yeah, we'll see. I'm not too set in my ways, but I also have team stuff with the Arizona Ridge Riders that I am excited to get back to."